Interesting statistics ESPN’s Outside The Linescompiled when highlighting on race in the NBA. As math would have it, White Americans’ presence in the league is at a historic low. Off the top of my head, the only active White American player I could think of was J.J. Redick. When Jerry West was asked the same question, all he could do was chuckle. And if anybody knows the NBA roster, it would be him. He played when they used peach baskets and will more than likely die a GM.

But there is validity in the statement that White college stars have trouble adjusting to the pro game. The aforementioned Redick would rather be a rapper than work on his isolation tactics. Bless Kyle Mcalarney’s heart but Mike Dunleavy took his life-long dream and wiped his ass with it. And where art thou Tyler Hansbrough? You were supposed to make up for Eric Montross, not join him.

Somewhere, a 6’7″ point guard in Croatia is smiling at the prospect of living the American dream.

haha so basically white kids are to busy at school and being lazy while the hood kids and die hards in euro is balling all day. i think this is the 10.000 hour principle at work + anthropoligical gene traits that give these guys frames making them capable of such athleticism.

12.08.09 at 4:18 pm

LC Weber

Kyle Korver…

…swoon…

Played for Creighton and then the Sixers. Now I think he’s in Utah being sexy somewhere on a bench.

12.08.09 at 4:26 pm

Yup

Jason Kapono.

12.08.09 at 4:52 pm

J. Tinsley

Long live Mark Madsen and his championship dance

12.08.09 at 4:54 pm

Sam C.

Mark Price said it best.

“I guess they’re not good enough.”

Not to be on some “haha we’re better” but c’mon now. A lot of these cats are tailored to the college game and just can’t adjust these days. J.J. was a knockdown 3 point shooter as a Dookie and he’s just now shooting over $5% from the field. The same offensive woes apply moreso to Psycho T even though he’s just a rookie.

European ballers aren’t more athletic but like Jerry West said they’ve logged in far more hours and played pro ball at an early age. Europe has had their fair share of busts but they’ve gotten much better in the past decade and will only improve. I’m all for it as it makes the game more globally competitive.

I mean Dirk got the MVP back in ’07. Nash got it back to back in ’05 and ’06 and he’s not from the US. Home grown cats need to step up and that’s all there is too it. And yes Dunleavy really did take a dump all over Mclarney’s dreams.

Fact is, racially-speaking, the NBA is more fairer than it’s ever been. When the court’s open the best cats get to run. The Eruopean cats are going harder. They work at ball from the time they’re 10 years old. (sound familiar?)

In our lifetimes don’t be surprised if the NBA similar to the MLB ends up being 40% Black, 25% White Euro, 20% Latin and 10% Asian (Yao is no fluke) and White kids here fighting for the other 5%.

12.08.09 at 5:19 pm

RoyistheBoy

I think we should consider that lots of white kids that would’ve been playing basketball growing up in the 80’s, have now shifted their interests to extreme sports (skateboarding, rollerblading, snowboarding etc.) growing up in the 90’s and 2000’s. Ask any skater, boarder, whatever, what their favorite mainstream sport is and I bet 90% say basketball.

12.08.09 at 5:25 pm

Slammu

Kevin Love is my guy. You will not find a white American 2-guard that does more that shoot 3’s, if you can even find one. I hate Jason Kapono. It seems like Eruopean players are just a bit more savvy when it comes to different syles of play than Americans and adjust quicker because they have been playing more competitively and harder for longer.

12.08.09 at 5:26 pm

RoyistheBoy

@ Black Canseco

I agree about the asians, i think in 15 years every team will have one.
Latins though? Can’t say I see anywhere other than Spain contributing notable talent.

12.08.09 at 5:46 pm

Darius Sinclair™

Kyle Krover has a better jumper than this guy, and Kyle was 6’7

12.08.09 at 6:02 pm

Kellen

do white canadians count?

12.08.09 at 6:25 pm

kent

Canadians are foreign too

12.08.09 at 6:47 pm

Black Canseco

*adopts dumbass conservative voice*: Canadians are foreigners. Canadians are a beret and a latte away from being French. And if it weren’t for US the French would be eatin’ sauerkraut!

But seriously, Steve Nash is Canadian, but his pale skin makes him an honorary White American.

Between Rudy Fernandez, this cat that just went 5th in the draft and bailed on Minnesota, and who’s the Spanish cat up on the Raptors?…

Spanairds and South Americans cn ball. But if you ever been to Spain or Brazil, there are few countries better to be a rich famous athlete in. Those cats get international booty like you wouldn’t believe. And they don’t have to deal with a lot of NBA BS. And on the right team, they can make more than KOBE or LEBRON…

12.08.09 at 7:25 pm

akswun

White boys get bodied all the time!… It’s like they’re scared of the contact, especially Euro players! When it comes down to White America I think its a case of we’d rather own than play…..

12.08.09 at 7:31 pm

P.S.A

lmao at all the comments.

12.08.09 at 7:45 pm

derz

us white boys struggle on defense…cos our lateral movement is wack. so it often hurts teams to put them out there on the court. i dont think its cos of a lack of practice or skill…its simply a lack of athletic ability. but but there are a few exceptions…some athletic white guys. like birdman. and kris humphries (he looks white but i dunno dude might have some black in him). joe alexander is also mad athletic but unfortunately injured atm. jordan farmar is one of the most athletic players in the league…he is jewish. so i guess that makes him white altho depends on ur definition. don’t forget chase budinger – that rookie got nice hops too.

but you can’t say white players suck…cos a few euro/south american white players dominate in the league. dirk, pau, manu etc.

you can, however, say american white players generally suck tho…

12.08.09 at 8:19 pm

Slammu

Yeah Kris Humphries is a Quarter black I believe. Big ups to a Minnesota native there!

12.08.09 at 9:09 pm

fam

dirk counts. germans are white. matter fact most europeans are white. not proud of it, just statin the facts

12.08.09 at 9:24 pm

AmpGeez a.k.a. Gotta Let The Birds Fly

you can’t say white players suck…cos a few euro/south american white players dominate in the league. dirk, pau, manu etc.

you can, however, say american white players generally suck tho…
====================================================================
What he said.

They be ballin in those Euro leagues & I’d say 1 out of 10 of those cats could actually come stateside and make a career out of it. But why bother? They are getting paid being big fish in a small pond. Why do you think Josh Childress told the NBA to kiss his ass lol?

12.08.09 at 10:20 pm

complexone

Jason Kidd can ball for a white dood. LOL

12.08.09 at 10:55 pm

KWick

“No one’s as tough as I am, no one’s as committed as I am, no one’s willing to work harder than I am.”

Bullshit.

I guarantee you 9 out of 10 current black NBA players work harder and love the game more than this douchebag. I’m tired of white people using hard work as a fallback, as if the only prerequisite to becoming a star professional basketball player is a strong work ethic. Sure you love it, sure you put the hours in, but that doesn’t give you a free ride to stardom. You’re not talented enough, period.

Have white players become stigmatized? Possibly. But that’s only a result of the expanding gap between American whites and the rest of the world (in regards to basketball). To me this is another case of whites feeling threatened and acting accordingly. I’m probably taking this too seriously, but I didn’t like dude’s tone or attitude.

12.08.09 at 11:03 pm

skinnyjoe

Maybe the NBA needs to use affirmative action. No wait, that kind of prejudice is only acceptable for non-whites. My bad.

12.09.09 at 2:52 am

Belve10

skinnyjoe.. trust me most non-whites don’t like affirmative action either because it is applied incorrectly.. if me and a white cat have the same skills how would you choose? Used to be choose the white guy since the majority of the current workforce was white and therefore it kept a better workplace.
If a white guy has the skills, he plays. PERIOD.

12.09.09 at 9:33 am

Iller Thank Mike D w/HIV

i think that a lot of white kids and their parents play the numbers. at a young age a child or their parents has to choose whether or not hes going to devote the majority of his life to perfecting and refining a specific skill set. in the pee-wee leagues theres 10-20 kids in every league capable of going beastmode and taking a game over, but over time maybe 1 of those kids gets a nbdl contract at some point? if you’ve got to invest 10,000 hours in something im glad that i chose math, business and computer code, a safe play to make 90k/yr 4 years after college, rather than a jumpshot and a handle. its expected earnings; simple math. .001% at 6figs or 30% chance at 100k? if you’re a parent what do you tell your kid to spend his time on?

12.09.09 at 10:00 am

DEEsaf

Who cares how many whites are in the nba? All i care about is the quality of basketball, and right now it’s pretty damn high if you ask me. NBA was boring 8 years ago, but since Lebron has been in the league the NBA has revitalized. My only problem with this lies in the fact that every year in every major sport (esp football) the bca laments how there are too few black coaches….there’s no wpa (white players’ association) to stick up for the whites not in the league…why? cause it doesn’t matter just like it shouldn’t matter the percentage of coaches in the league that are black. I’m not gonna stand by this as fact but maybe the trend is black guys are better at playing and white guys are better at coaching (in general)….just a thought.

12.09.09 at 10:05 am

DEEsaf

also, white players in general (there exceptions…see the ones in the nba) are slower and less athletic than black players. through high school and in some ways college (but there aren’t many white players on major college teams either) white players can try and keep up because they are more team oriented defenses and hustle goes a long way, but once in the nba with the best physically gifted, coordinated people in the world…that effort shit doesn’t stand a chance. gotta have the athletic ability to compete

12.09.09 at 5:50 pm

Essential

Don’t forget my favorite still of dunleavy jr

dude still gets booed out of oracle

12.09.09 at 7:00 pm

Bob

And may I ask all you haters how many good white players there are in Baseball??? O wait thats what I thought, theres a lot of them

12.16.09 at 3:28 pm

jrthoma2

Here’s what I say, force the NBA to hire white guys on their teams just like in the workplace where we are forced to hire blacks or “minorities”. Sounds fair to me, right? I mean companies are forced to hire blacks as a part of their non-discrimination requirements of having a certain amount of blacks on their payroll no matter how un- qualified they are, So the NBA should be forced to hire white players too….its only fair….right? So lets call it what it is here, in the NBA white guys are slower and less athletic so they don’t make the team, conversley in the real world blacks are less intelligent and lazy so they don’t get the job. Pretty simple if you ask me.

12.16.09 at 8:50 pm

J

Last time I checked, those “garbage european players” kept the all black American team out of the championship game in the 04 olympics. A team with Dirk Nowitski, Steve Nash, and Pal Gasol would own any team in the NBA. All the 6’6″ white guys go play tight end in America, because not enough care about basketball anymore.

12.16.09 at 10:48 pm

Godsmacker

Ouch, brother (white that is) got it right…

jrthoma2 says:
December 16, ’09 at 3:28 pm
Here’s what I say, force the NBA to hire white guys on their teams just like in the workplace where we are forced to hire blacks or “minorities”. Sounds fair to me, right? I mean companies are forced to hire blacks as a part of their non-discrimination requirements of having a certain amount of blacks on their payroll no matter how un- qualified they are, So the NBA should be forced to hire white players too….its only fair….right? So lets call it what it is here, in the NBA white guys are slower and less athletic so they don’t make the team, conversley in the real world blacks are less intelligent and lazy so they don’t get the job. Pretty simple if you ask me.

12.17.09 at 6:24 pm

roberto

people say that white people aren’t as athletic and they suck at basketball. THEIR WRONG! It’s just that less white american kids play basketball anymore. They all play soccer, lacrosse, and baseball. im a 15 year old white boy and i play for hours everyday. Im not lazy and fat like a lot of white people. Im REALLY fast and can jump higher than most people (including blacks). It’s all about your commitment to the game, staying in shape, and having the heart and loving the game. race dosen’t matter, your environment and lifestyle do

12.18.09 at 1:29 am

Luke

The NBA is an entertainment industry. Most people pay the big bucks to see high flying dunks with an extremely fast style of play. 24 second shot clocks, leanient referees, extended 3 point lines, and impatient fans hardly facilitate traditional offenses such as shell, flex, ect..(these offenses were created and perfected by white players) Jordan changed the game forever. He redefined the stereotypical mold for the NBA and developed a popular style that caters to black athletes. Lets go ahead and change the NBA logo because it is not the same game. In a society that currently values emotional change over traditional rationality, fundementals are becoming increasingly unpopular.

01.01.10 at 1:55 am

CrackerJohn

Blacks kids from the ghetto all play basketball. They love the game, play it all the time, and the most talented put in a lot of work to be the best. Athletic white kids usually focus on multiple sports and, from what I can tell, don’t really seriously consider playing basketball professionally. A lot of them think it’s a “black sport” and can’t imagine trodding down the court with scrappy, tatooted out seven foot black dudes. I wouldn’t call it racism. It’s the same reason blacks don’t usually go into tennis or hockey: it’s not “their game.” Also consider that unlike other sports where you need a field and lots of players, it’s really easy to put in lots of hours playing basketball. Black kids from the hood are going to put in way more hours because in the ghetto that’s what athletic black kids do. I think there will eventually be alot more white Americans but they have to adjust to the fact that the game has become more physical and more individualistic. Despite all this, most white people (including myself) love watching basketball BECAUSE OF ALL THE BLACK PLAYERS and not in spite of them. It’s the same reason a lot of white people like rap: they love trash talking, in your face blackness. A little weird, but there you go.

02.01.10 at 3:39 pm

spoonster

it is refreshing to read all the comments. i didnt find one comment to be offensive or hateful. most were simply people’s true thoughts…and some were just true ie. whites own the teams. I can tell many commenters are athletes or once were. It seems to me that athletic participation is the perfect place to learn to accept people of all races and origins and to appreciate the differences amongst the diversity. Kudos to all who commented. By the way, I know a bad ass white girl who was a lefty and would do a spin on you in the lane and shoot an impeccable jumper. There’s plenty of white girls in the WNBA. I wonder why they are yet competitive but their male counterparts aren’t? Something to consider.

03.31.10 at 8:08 pm

white mike

I am a white boy and lets just face the facts. Whites are not hungry anymore for sports. Blacks want it more and have an edge athletically. Look at boxing predominately black and hispanic. I will admit blacks have more speed and quickness but hispanics hell no! It is more hunger thing, white boys play QB, O-line, shoot 3’s and dominate baseball along with hispanics. Aside from that black people are more natural and hell of alot more hungry.